Uttarakhand govt donates Rs 10 crore for flood-hit people in Jammu and Kashmir

The state will also pay fees of Kashmiri students studying in different colleges and institutes of Uttarakhand for the next three months

Uttarakhand's resident commissioner on Tuesday handed over a cheque of Rs 10 crore to his Jammu and Kashmir counterpart in New Delhi on behalf of Chief Minister Harish Rawat for the flood-hit people of the state.

In keeping with the state government's announcement in this regard earlier, Shankar Dutt Sharma handed over a cheque of Rs 10 crore to Jammu and Kashmir Resident Commissioner Lokesh Jha in New Delhi, an official release here said.

Rawat had offered the amount as financial assistance to the flood-ravaged state on September 9.

Uttarakhand government will also pay fees of Kashmiri students studying in different colleges and institutes of the state for the next three months.

The chief minister said the decision was taken to provide some monetary relief to students from the flood-hit state.

Uttarakhand is also providing rafts and submersible pumps from its hydel projects to Jammu and Kashmir to rescue people and flush out water from marooned areas.

Fifty river rafts from Rishikesh have already been sent to the state and 20-30 more will soon be sent, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar said.

Uttarakhand, which itself battled a natural calamity of unprecedented magnitude last year, is also providing official expertise to Jammu and Kashmir to help combat the current crisis.

Uttarakhand Missing Cell chief Ajay Pradyot was sent along with two of his subordinates to the northern state a few days back to lend a helping hand in searching for the missing people in Jammu and Kashmir.